i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation system for vehicles, and more particularly to a mutual screen change between a block guide map and an intersection guide map in a navigation system for vehicles.
ii) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to reduce a driver's load, various devices have been developed and mounted on a vehicle. A navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination along a route has been proposed.
In such a navigation system, the destination is input and a guide start switch is operated to search for a route to the destination from the present position. The route obtained in the search is displayed so that it can be shown to the driver. Further, the navigation system has another function for detecting the present position of the vehicle and during the driving, the route obtained in the search and the detected present position are displayed to carry out navigation of the vehicle.
When the vehicle reaches an intersection to be negotiated, the screen is changed from a block guide map to an intersection guide map, and after turning to the left or right, the screen is changed again to the block guide map from the intersection guide map to display and guide along the route.
However, in the conventional navigation system, when it is determined that the vehicle is approaching an intersection to be negotiated while the block guide map is displayed on the screen, the screen is changed from the block guide map to the intersection guide map. In particular, when there is another intersection to be negotiated in the vicinity of the previous intersection while the intersection guide map is displayed on the screen, it is often too late to change the screen from the previous intersection guide map to a new intersection guide map after it is discriminated that the vehicle is approaching another intersection to be negotiated and it is impossible to exactly and quickly show the information of the new intersection to the driver.